The present invention relates generally to method and apparatus for reducing headaches, and especially migraine headaches. People have tried many techniques to relieve the pain of migraine headaches. Many of these techniques involve the application of pressure against blood vessels at the surface of the upper portion of the person's head, and especially at the temples (the flattened spaces at the opposite sides of the forehead). It often was thought that such pressure might reduce the blood supply to some portion of the head that was involved in the headache. The pressure was usually applied by the person who had the headache to him or herself, as with the thumbs, forefinger and/or middle finger of each hand. After applying pressure for perhaps a minute, the person's arm grew tired and he/she stopped.
Medicines have been developed that are effective in the reduction of the pain of migraine headache. The most popular medicine is IMITREX sold by GlaxoSmithKline, which currently has sales of about $1.2 billion per year. One of the problems with the use of this medicine is its cost to patients (without insurance), of $21 per 25 milligram pill (which gives relief in about one hour), $29 per 5 milligram nasal spray (which gives relief in about 20 minutes), and more than $100 for an injection in an emergency room (which gives relief in about 10 minutes). This medicine relieves headache symptoms by stimulating nerves in the head. The high cost for each treatment constitutes a burden for many people. As such, the art continues to seek improvements in relieving headaches.